1 00:00:04,710 --> 00:00:03,429 our topic today is a new discovery 2 00:00:06,389 --> 00:00:04,720 that's been made by the interstellar 3 00:00:09,589 --> 00:00:06,399 boundary explorer 4 00:00:12,789 --> 00:00:09,599 which is uh put into uh nasa speak by 5 00:00:14,629 --> 00:00:12,799 calling it ibex admission this 6 00:00:17,750 --> 00:00:14,639 mission has produced some brand new 7 00:00:19,750 --> 00:00:17,760 results that give us our very first look 8 00:00:21,269 --> 00:00:19,760 at our home in the galaxy 9 00:00:22,870 --> 00:00:21,279 now the results that you're going to see 10 00:00:24,870 --> 00:00:22,880 today 11 00:00:27,589 --> 00:00:24,880 come from a very broad collaboration 12 00:00:29,669 --> 00:00:27,599 between several nasa missions 13 00:00:31,589 --> 00:00:29,679 a fusion of industry academic and 14 00:00:34,150 --> 00:00:31,599 government resources 15 00:00:36,069 --> 00:00:34,160 and international partnerships 16 00:00:39,190 --> 00:00:36,079 now in my view this collaboration while 17 00:00:41,030 --> 00:00:39,200 not our main story is a remarkable model 18 00:00:42,150 --> 00:00:41,040 of how current space physics research is 19 00:00:43,750 --> 00:00:42,160 conducted 20 00:00:45,830 --> 00:00:43,760 with the twin goals 21 00:00:48,150 --> 00:00:45,840 of achieving both excellence and 22 00:00:49,830 --> 00:00:48,160 integrity in the scientific research 23 00:00:52,869 --> 00:00:49,840 now today's panel 24 00:00:55,029 --> 00:00:52,879 uh reflects this broad collaboration 25 00:00:57,270 --> 00:00:55,039 with us today is a distinguished group 26 00:00:59,510 --> 00:00:57,280 of experimenters investigators who 27 00:01:01,430 --> 00:00:59,520 present this newest result of our home 28 00:01:03,590 --> 00:01:01,440 in the galaxy and they are 29 00:01:05,350 --> 00:01:03,600 eric christian 30 00:01:06,789 --> 00:01:05,360 uh who is the ibex deputy mission 31 00:01:07,990 --> 00:01:06,799 scientist and he's from goddard space 32 00:01:09,830 --> 00:01:08,000 flight center 33 00:01:11,910 --> 00:01:09,840 david mccomas 34 00:01:14,070 --> 00:01:11,920 dr mccomas is the interstellar boundary 35 00:01:16,230 --> 00:01:14,080 explorer ibex 36 00:01:18,789 --> 00:01:16,240 spacecraft principal investigator and he 37 00:01:20,149 --> 00:01:18,799 is also an assistant vice president of 38 00:01:21,910 --> 00:01:20,159 the space science and engineering 39 00:01:24,950 --> 00:01:21,920 division of the southwest research 40 00:01:28,310 --> 00:01:24,960 institute in san antonio texas 41 00:01:30,069 --> 00:01:28,320 next to david is rosine dr rosine lalmon 42 00:01:32,789 --> 00:01:30,079 she's the senior scientist at the french 43 00:01:35,109 --> 00:01:32,799 national center for space research 44 00:01:37,830 --> 00:01:35,119 sitting next to rosine 45 00:01:39,749 --> 00:01:37,840 is lindsey barlone 46 00:01:41,510 --> 00:01:39,759 she's the ibex education and public 47 00:01:43,990 --> 00:01:41,520 outreach lead and is with the adler 48 00:01:47,990 --> 00:01:44,000 planetarium in chicago illinois and 49 00:01:49,109 --> 00:01:48,000 at the end the far end we have a dual uh 50 00:01:51,670 --> 00:01:49,119 kind of a 51 00:01:53,510 --> 00:01:51,680 a defensive offensive player two 52 00:01:56,069 --> 00:01:53,520 two sides of the same coin he is a 53 00:01:58,389 --> 00:01:56,079 cassini spacecraft instrument scientist 54 00:02:00,069 --> 00:01:58,399 and ibex co-investigator it's dr don 55 00:02:01,830 --> 00:02:00,079 mitchell from the johns hopkins 56 00:02:04,630 --> 00:02:01,840 university applied physics laboratory in 57 00:02:06,950 --> 00:02:04,640 laurel maryland and i'm going to ask um 58 00:02:09,190 --> 00:02:06,960 eric if he would start our today's 59 00:02:10,869 --> 00:02:09,200 presentation thanks dick 60 00:02:13,190 --> 00:02:10,879 well this is an amazing time to be 61 00:02:16,150 --> 00:02:13,200 studying the outer heliosphere in the 62 00:02:18,470 --> 00:02:16,160 last few years both voyager spacecrafts 63 00:02:20,309 --> 00:02:18,480 have passed through the first boundary 64 00:02:22,790 --> 00:02:20,319 between our solar system and 65 00:02:26,309 --> 00:02:22,800 interstellar space 66 00:02:27,750 --> 00:02:26,319 and they're out there now measuring 67 00:02:28,949 --> 00:02:27,760 this this interaction region they're 68 00:02:30,949 --> 00:02:28,959 measuring 69 00:02:32,869 --> 00:02:30,959 solar wind pressure 70 00:02:35,509 --> 00:02:32,879 temperature velocity 71 00:02:38,229 --> 00:02:35,519 in this interaction region and now ibex 72 00:02:40,550 --> 00:02:38,239 comes along and fills in 73 00:02:43,190 --> 00:02:40,560 all the places that voyager isn't now 74 00:02:46,390 --> 00:02:43,200 what is the heliosphere 75 00:02:48,949 --> 00:02:46,400 if you watch this movie here 76 00:02:51,589 --> 00:02:48,959 there's a million mile per hour solar 77 00:02:53,430 --> 00:02:51,599 wind hot gas that blows out from the sun 78 00:02:56,150 --> 00:02:53,440 in all directions 79 00:02:59,110 --> 00:02:56,160 and that solar wind is actually blown a 80 00:03:00,630 --> 00:02:59,120 bubble in interstellar space 81 00:03:02,869 --> 00:03:00,640 that bubble has a bunch of different 82 00:03:05,190 --> 00:03:02,879 layers there's an inner region mostly 83 00:03:07,509 --> 00:03:05,200 spherical that where the solar wind is 84 00:03:08,869 --> 00:03:07,519 moving very quickly and then it slows 85 00:03:12,149 --> 00:03:08,879 down drastically what's called the 86 00:03:14,390 --> 00:03:12,159 termination shock and flows down into a 87 00:03:16,869 --> 00:03:14,400 long comet shaped tail 88 00:03:19,750 --> 00:03:16,879 it's in between this termination shock 89 00:03:21,509 --> 00:03:19,760 and the boundary that the voyages are 90 00:03:23,910 --> 00:03:21,519 right now measuring and then there's 91 00:03:26,710 --> 00:03:23,920 actually an interstellar wind that's 92 00:03:28,789 --> 00:03:26,720 pushing on the heliosphere from outside 93 00:03:31,430 --> 00:03:28,799 and flowing around this comet shaped 94 00:03:32,630 --> 00:03:31,440 heliosphere 95 00:03:38,390 --> 00:03:32,640 so 96 00:03:41,350 --> 00:03:38,400 from ibex and to set the context 97 00:03:44,309 --> 00:03:41,360 um i'd like to show this picture here 98 00:03:47,350 --> 00:03:44,319 we've got to take this map where we're 99 00:03:49,990 --> 00:03:47,360 looking out from in very close to the 100 00:03:51,670 --> 00:03:50,000 sun on this entire region and the way we 101 00:03:54,869 --> 00:03:51,680 do that is we flatten it out with the 102 00:03:56,149 --> 00:03:54,879 two-dimensional map projection 103 00:03:58,949 --> 00:03:56,159 this picture 104 00:04:01,190 --> 00:03:58,959 is the way the night sky would look if 105 00:04:03,509 --> 00:04:01,200 you could see the entire night sky the 106 00:04:05,030 --> 00:04:03,519 earth wasn't blocking half of it 107 00:04:10,229 --> 00:04:05,040 and 108 00:04:12,309 --> 00:04:10,239 is the milky way galaxy 109 00:04:15,990 --> 00:04:12,319 what's called the galactic plain 110 00:04:18,069 --> 00:04:16,000 and it's a ring in space it goes around 111 00:04:20,789 --> 00:04:18,079 the your sphere that you're looking out 112 00:04:23,189 --> 00:04:20,799 on but the map projection turns it into 113 00:04:25,350 --> 00:04:23,199 this s-shaped band 114 00:04:27,749 --> 00:04:25,360 so you can see the local stars and now 115 00:04:29,590 --> 00:04:27,759 if you run it the 116 00:04:31,590 --> 00:04:29,600 we can show you where the two voyager 117 00:04:35,270 --> 00:04:31,600 spacecraft are 118 00:04:36,629 --> 00:04:35,280 on this projection and 119 00:04:38,629 --> 00:04:36,639 here you see 120 00:04:41,670 --> 00:04:38,639 voyager 1 and voyager 2 where their 121 00:04:43,749 --> 00:04:41,680 positions are and the nose is the 122 00:04:46,469 --> 00:04:43,759 direction that the sun is moving 123 00:04:49,510 --> 00:04:46,479 relative to interstellar gas it's the 124 00:04:51,030 --> 00:04:49,520 upstream direction and all of our map 125 00:04:53,189 --> 00:04:51,040 projections coming up we're going to 126 00:04:55,430 --> 00:04:53,199 have pretty much the nose centered 127 00:04:57,830 --> 00:04:55,440 and be in this form 128 00:04:59,510 --> 00:04:57,840 but so we have voyager 1 and voyager 2 129 00:05:01,749 --> 00:04:59,520 and they're like 130 00:05:03,189 --> 00:05:01,759 weather stations but can you imagine 131 00:05:06,310 --> 00:05:03,199 trying to determine the weather in the 132 00:05:07,590 --> 00:05:06,320 entire earth from two weather stations 133 00:05:10,150 --> 00:05:07,600 can't do it 134 00:05:12,550 --> 00:05:10,160 ibex is like our first weather satellite 135 00:05:14,870 --> 00:05:12,560 and gives us the full picture 136 00:05:17,590 --> 00:05:14,880 and so to fill in all the stuff that you 137 00:05:19,270 --> 00:05:17,600 don't see on this picture here 138 00:05:21,590 --> 00:05:19,280 david 139 00:05:23,430 --> 00:05:21,600 thanks eric and good afternoon 140 00:05:25,830 --> 00:05:23,440 so i'll pick up the story exactly where 141 00:05:27,350 --> 00:05:25,840 eric left it off we have these fabulous 142 00:05:29,430 --> 00:05:27,360 observations from the two voyager 143 00:05:31,110 --> 00:05:29,440 spacecraft out in this interaction 144 00:05:33,110 --> 00:05:31,120 region at the edge of our solar system 145 00:05:34,870 --> 00:05:33,120 our heliosphere but there are only these 146 00:05:36,469 --> 00:05:34,880 two locations these two very specific 147 00:05:38,790 --> 00:05:36,479 locations in space 148 00:05:41,110 --> 00:05:38,800 and so what you see on this graphic is 149 00:05:43,270 --> 00:05:41,120 the picture of our heliosphere the 150 00:05:45,590 --> 00:05:43,280 global picture of our heliosphere as it 151 00:05:46,950 --> 00:05:45,600 as it was yesterday with just these two 152 00:05:49,749 --> 00:05:46,960 two points 153 00:05:51,749 --> 00:05:49,759 and now if we run the the fade you'll 154 00:05:54,230 --> 00:05:51,759 see the new picture the picture of what 155 00:05:56,469 --> 00:05:54,240 we know of our heliosphere today 156 00:05:58,950 --> 00:05:56,479 these results are from ibex 157 00:06:00,469 --> 00:05:58,960 they're neutral particles neutral atoms 158 00:06:01,830 --> 00:06:00,479 coming in from the very edge of the 159 00:06:04,150 --> 00:06:01,840 heliosphere 160 00:06:07,189 --> 00:06:04,160 what you see is a very bright and very 161 00:06:09,350 --> 00:06:07,199 very narrow ribbon of particles coming 162 00:06:11,350 --> 00:06:09,360 in neutral atoms coming in the 163 00:06:12,710 --> 00:06:11,360 expectations from theories theorists and 164 00:06:16,150 --> 00:06:12,720 modelers were that there'd be small 165 00:06:18,070 --> 00:06:16,160 variations uh uh tens of percent across 166 00:06:21,189 --> 00:06:18,080 uh these sorts of regions of space but 167 00:06:23,430 --> 00:06:21,199 instead we see two 300 variations across 168 00:06:24,469 --> 00:06:23,440 this across this ribbon 169 00:06:26,629 --> 00:06:24,479 and so 170 00:06:29,189 --> 00:06:26,639 this is a shocking new result for us and 171 00:06:31,029 --> 00:06:29,199 one that's even as we speak now not 172 00:06:33,029 --> 00:06:31,039 entirely understood and not entirely 173 00:06:34,629 --> 00:06:33,039 explained but it's a very exciting 174 00:06:36,710 --> 00:06:34,639 result for us and it shows that what we 175 00:06:39,029 --> 00:06:36,720 thought we understood before about this 176 00:06:40,469 --> 00:06:39,039 interaction is definitely not right and 177 00:06:42,230 --> 00:06:40,479 we have to kind of go back and start 178 00:06:43,749 --> 00:06:42,240 over so i'm going to talk a lot more 179 00:06:45,430 --> 00:06:43,759 about the observations and about the 180 00:06:46,710 --> 00:06:45,440 ribbon but before i do that let me give 181 00:06:48,469 --> 00:06:46,720 you a little bit of background about 182 00:06:49,589 --> 00:06:48,479 ibex and and the spacecraft and how we 183 00:06:50,629 --> 00:06:49,599 take the measurements because it's 184 00:06:51,589 --> 00:06:50,639 important to understand what we're 185 00:06:53,830 --> 00:06:51,599 seeing 186 00:06:55,830 --> 00:06:53,840 so in this movie you'll see the ibex 187 00:06:57,270 --> 00:06:55,840 spacecraft this is an artist rendition 188 00:06:59,430 --> 00:06:57,280 the ibex spacecraft is very small 189 00:07:00,950 --> 00:06:59,440 spacecraft this is actually a full a 190 00:07:02,790 --> 00:07:00,960 full-sized model over here it's about 191 00:07:05,189 --> 00:07:02,800 three feet in diameter a foot and a half 192 00:07:07,749 --> 00:07:05,199 tall it weighs about 200 pounds it's got 193 00:07:10,870 --> 00:07:07,759 one side that points towards the sun it 194 00:07:13,830 --> 00:07:10,880 spins at four rpms four rotations per 195 00:07:15,270 --> 00:07:13,840 minute and the the top side blue and the 196 00:07:17,589 --> 00:07:15,280 blue in the movie you're basically 197 00:07:20,629 --> 00:07:17,599 seeing the solar panels we have two very 198 00:07:22,309 --> 00:07:20,639 large sensors cameras uh actually 199 00:07:23,909 --> 00:07:22,319 cameras not of light but cameras of 200 00:07:25,749 --> 00:07:23,919 neutral atoms 201 00:07:27,270 --> 00:07:25,759 and we look out the two sides 202 00:07:29,110 --> 00:07:27,280 perpendicular to the spin axis and we 203 00:07:31,029 --> 00:07:29,120 view these two these two directions in 204 00:07:32,150 --> 00:07:31,039 space and every time the spacecraft 205 00:07:33,749 --> 00:07:32,160 spins 206 00:07:35,189 --> 00:07:33,759 we're able to uh we're able to make 207 00:07:36,629 --> 00:07:35,199 these observations 208 00:07:38,070 --> 00:07:36,639 before i get into that in more detail 209 00:07:40,550 --> 00:07:38,080 let me talk a little bit about where 210 00:07:42,230 --> 00:07:40,560 these neutral particles come from 211 00:07:44,469 --> 00:07:42,240 ultimately these particles mostly come 212 00:07:45,830 --> 00:07:44,479 from the sun from the solar wind eric 213 00:07:47,990 --> 00:07:45,840 already mentioned the solar wind this 214 00:07:50,230 --> 00:07:48,000 million mile an hour gas that goes 215 00:07:51,749 --> 00:07:50,240 spreading out from the sun all the time 216 00:07:53,110 --> 00:07:51,759 if we run the movie here we'll start 217 00:07:55,110 --> 00:07:53,120 with the sun 218 00:07:57,029 --> 00:07:55,120 so here you see a picture of the sun we 219 00:07:59,270 --> 00:07:57,039 move in close into the solar corona 220 00:08:01,110 --> 00:07:59,280 million degree corona and this 221 00:08:03,189 --> 00:08:01,120 atmosphere this corona boils off into 222 00:08:05,830 --> 00:08:03,199 space and produces this million mile an 223 00:08:08,070 --> 00:08:05,840 hour wind all the time of hot ionized 224 00:08:09,909 --> 00:08:08,080 gas as those particles flow radially 225 00:08:11,589 --> 00:08:09,919 outward they drag out the magnetic field 226 00:08:14,070 --> 00:08:11,599 from the sun and when they get out into 227 00:08:15,909 --> 00:08:14,080 this interaction region as you see here 228 00:08:17,350 --> 00:08:15,919 and we'll blow that region up they 229 00:08:18,790 --> 00:08:17,360 actually are tied to magnetic field 230 00:08:20,629 --> 00:08:18,800 lines because all charged particles are 231 00:08:22,390 --> 00:08:20,639 tied to magnetic field lines so they go 232 00:08:24,469 --> 00:08:22,400 around and around gyrating around the 233 00:08:26,790 --> 00:08:24,479 field and sometimes they come close to 234 00:08:28,309 --> 00:08:26,800 another particle and steal an electron 235 00:08:29,909 --> 00:08:28,319 and when they can steal an electron they 236 00:08:32,149 --> 00:08:29,919 go zipping off in whatever direction 237 00:08:34,070 --> 00:08:32,159 they they were going and some of them go 238 00:08:36,149 --> 00:08:34,080 right back in towards us and go right in 239 00:08:38,149 --> 00:08:36,159 the aperture of the ibex spacecraft and 240 00:08:40,469 --> 00:08:38,159 i like to think of that as sort of a 10 241 00:08:42,070 --> 00:08:40,479 billion mile away hole in one for one of 242 00:08:44,630 --> 00:08:42,080 these neutral atoms coming in from the 243 00:08:46,470 --> 00:08:44,640 boundary of the solar system 244 00:08:48,310 --> 00:08:46,480 so 245 00:08:50,070 --> 00:08:48,320 we talked a little bit about how the ena 246 00:08:52,470 --> 00:08:50,080 cameras energetic neutral atom cameras 247 00:08:54,710 --> 00:08:52,480 look off the two sides that allows us to 248 00:08:56,389 --> 00:08:54,720 to see a swath of the sky 249 00:08:57,829 --> 00:08:56,399 as the spacecraft spins and in the 250 00:09:00,230 --> 00:08:57,839 graphic that we have here go ahead and 251 00:09:01,910 --> 00:09:00,240 run that please you can see the two 252 00:09:03,750 --> 00:09:01,920 fields of view these two pixel fields of 253 00:09:06,070 --> 00:09:03,760 view looking off to the two sides and as 254 00:09:08,230 --> 00:09:06,080 the spacecraft spins around each of ibex 255 00:09:10,550 --> 00:09:08,240 high and low views all the way around in 256 00:09:12,389 --> 00:09:10,560 this great circle and and takes 257 00:09:14,230 --> 00:09:12,399 excellent measurements of the ena's 258 00:09:16,470 --> 00:09:14,240 coming in in this circle 259 00:09:17,829 --> 00:09:16,480 okay but that's not a sky map we had to 260 00:09:20,550 --> 00:09:17,839 find a way with the small cheap 261 00:09:22,310 --> 00:09:20,560 spacecraft to to actually see all of the 262 00:09:24,470 --> 00:09:22,320 sky and so we use something that we 263 00:09:27,030 --> 00:09:24,480 naturally had we only have one side that 264 00:09:29,269 --> 00:09:27,040 has solar panels on it and so what we do 265 00:09:31,030 --> 00:09:29,279 is we point that side towards the sun 266 00:09:33,030 --> 00:09:31,040 and as the earth goes around the sun and 267 00:09:35,590 --> 00:09:33,040 let's run this next graphic as the earth 268 00:09:37,350 --> 00:09:35,600 goes around the sun we keep re-pointing 269 00:09:39,509 --> 00:09:37,360 the spacecraft so it's pointing towards 270 00:09:40,790 --> 00:09:39,519 the sun if you can roll this uh movie 271 00:09:43,269 --> 00:09:40,800 please 272 00:09:45,190 --> 00:09:43,279 and as we re-point the spacecraft the 273 00:09:47,269 --> 00:09:45,200 swath of the sky that you observe 274 00:09:49,269 --> 00:09:47,279 rotates around and so you end up 275 00:09:50,790 --> 00:09:49,279 basically over the course of half a year 276 00:09:52,310 --> 00:09:50,800 by the spinning of the spacecraft and 277 00:09:56,389 --> 00:09:52,320 the repointing of the spacecraft 278 00:09:59,829 --> 00:09:58,230 okay so that's how we view these 279 00:10:03,110 --> 00:09:59,839 energetic neutral atoms how we can see 280 00:10:04,949 --> 00:10:03,120 them coming from all directions in space 281 00:10:07,430 --> 00:10:04,959 i'd like to start the next movie it 282 00:10:08,870 --> 00:10:07,440 shows ibex in orbit around the earth 283 00:10:10,870 --> 00:10:08,880 ibex is actually making these 284 00:10:12,870 --> 00:10:10,880 measurements from an earth orbit it's a 285 00:10:14,870 --> 00:10:12,880 very high altitude earth orbit we go 286 00:10:16,630 --> 00:10:14,880 almost all the way out to the moon about 287 00:10:18,710 --> 00:10:16,640 50 earth radii and then come back in it 288 00:10:19,670 --> 00:10:18,720 takes about a week for ibex to orbit 289 00:10:21,509 --> 00:10:19,680 around 290 00:10:22,949 --> 00:10:21,519 the earth and make and make a full a 291 00:10:24,310 --> 00:10:22,959 full orbit 292 00:10:25,990 --> 00:10:24,320 over that week we're at high altitude 293 00:10:27,430 --> 00:10:26,000 for most of the time measuring these 294 00:10:30,069 --> 00:10:27,440 neutral particles and then we come in 295 00:10:31,509 --> 00:10:30,079 close we we downlink our data 296 00:10:33,829 --> 00:10:31,519 now we're going to back away from this 297 00:10:34,949 --> 00:10:33,839 view and as we back away from this view 298 00:10:36,949 --> 00:10:34,959 you're going to see that that's the 299 00:10:40,230 --> 00:10:36,959 earth we're going to now see the orbits 300 00:10:41,829 --> 00:10:40,240 of venus of mercury the sun itself and 301 00:10:43,430 --> 00:10:41,839 you can see the direction of motion 302 00:10:45,590 --> 00:10:43,440 through the local interstellar medium 303 00:10:47,110 --> 00:10:45,600 and painted in the backdrop you can see 304 00:10:49,269 --> 00:10:47,120 the these measurements that we've that 305 00:10:51,269 --> 00:10:49,279 we've just made of of the ribbon so 306 00:10:52,870 --> 00:10:51,279 we're inside a sphere looking around in 307 00:10:54,790 --> 00:10:52,880 all directions and measuring these 308 00:10:57,670 --> 00:10:54,800 particles coming from all directions if 309 00:10:59,509 --> 00:10:57,680 we back out of that sphere and see it 310 00:11:01,430 --> 00:10:59,519 from the outside you can imagine taking 311 00:11:03,829 --> 00:11:01,440 a knife and cutting through that sphere 312 00:11:05,509 --> 00:11:03,839 and opening it up and flattening it out 313 00:11:07,030 --> 00:11:05,519 onto onto a page 314 00:11:08,470 --> 00:11:07,040 and that's the sky map that you're 315 00:11:10,470 --> 00:11:08,480 seeing and all of the observations we're 316 00:11:12,069 --> 00:11:10,480 going to talk about are in this format 317 00:11:13,750 --> 00:11:12,079 so the nose is at the middle that's the 318 00:11:15,750 --> 00:11:13,760 direction we're going through the galaxy 319 00:11:19,350 --> 00:11:15,760 the tail is on the far right and left 320 00:11:21,990 --> 00:11:19,360 north and south poles are where they are 321 00:11:23,350 --> 00:11:22,000 so ibex doesn't only measure 322 00:11:24,870 --> 00:11:23,360 particles at one energy but actually 323 00:11:25,990 --> 00:11:24,880 measures particles over a broad range of 324 00:11:27,670 --> 00:11:26,000 energies 325 00:11:29,750 --> 00:11:27,680 from about 10 electron volts all the way 326 00:11:31,670 --> 00:11:29,760 up to 6000 electron volts 327 00:11:33,030 --> 00:11:31,680 and uh this next 328 00:11:35,030 --> 00:11:33,040 graphic that you're going to see is 329 00:11:36,550 --> 00:11:35,040 actually a set of five sky maps not just 330 00:11:39,269 --> 00:11:36,560 one but five sky maps at different 331 00:11:40,949 --> 00:11:39,279 energies and they correspond to neutral 332 00:11:43,030 --> 00:11:40,959 hydrogen atoms coming in with speeds 333 00:11:44,630 --> 00:11:43,040 between half a million miles an hour and 334 00:11:45,509 --> 00:11:44,640 about two and a half million miles an 335 00:11:47,269 --> 00:11:45,519 hour 336 00:11:48,550 --> 00:11:47,279 and what you see as we sort of go 337 00:11:51,590 --> 00:11:48,560 through fade through the different 338 00:11:53,350 --> 00:11:51,600 energies is this ribbon changes and 339 00:11:55,030 --> 00:11:53,360 appears to get broader as you move away 340 00:11:57,190 --> 00:11:55,040 from one kilovolt about a million mile 341 00:11:58,870 --> 00:11:57,200 an hour particles um it's actually not 342 00:12:00,949 --> 00:11:58,880 getting broader what's happening is it's 343 00:12:02,470 --> 00:12:00,959 it's not as it's not as uh 344 00:12:04,629 --> 00:12:02,480 as bright compared to the background and 345 00:12:06,629 --> 00:12:04,639 so you sort of see the background uh the 346 00:12:08,150 --> 00:12:06,639 distributed flux from around there uh 347 00:12:09,670 --> 00:12:08,160 coming up there are a lot of really 348 00:12:11,190 --> 00:12:09,680 fascinating things in these in these 349 00:12:13,110 --> 00:12:11,200 measurements you can see in this one for 350 00:12:15,269 --> 00:12:13,120 example a bright spot up up at high 351 00:12:17,350 --> 00:12:15,279 latitudes on the left hand side 352 00:12:19,030 --> 00:12:17,360 which has a very different sort of a 353 00:12:20,790 --> 00:12:19,040 feature than than much of the rest of 354 00:12:22,470 --> 00:12:20,800 the ribbon so there's a lot of really 355 00:12:24,629 --> 00:12:22,480 great detailed information in in these 356 00:12:26,069 --> 00:12:24,639 sky maps 357 00:12:27,350 --> 00:12:26,079 another thing that we scientists always 358 00:12:28,629 --> 00:12:27,360 want to do is we want to be able to 359 00:12:29,990 --> 00:12:28,639 confirm our results and that's 360 00:12:31,990 --> 00:12:30,000 especially important when we find 361 00:12:33,430 --> 00:12:32,000 something that's not what we expected 362 00:12:34,949 --> 00:12:33,440 that doesn't agree with theory doesn't 363 00:12:36,389 --> 00:12:34,959 agree with model how do you know you're 364 00:12:38,470 --> 00:12:36,399 right how do you know that you can 365 00:12:40,629 --> 00:12:38,480 really trust these results 366 00:12:42,629 --> 00:12:40,639 and so ibex by its very design from the 367 00:12:43,910 --> 00:12:42,639 beginning has these two sensors ibex 368 00:12:45,910 --> 00:12:43,920 high and low measuring two different 369 00:12:47,750 --> 00:12:45,920 energy ranges but we overlapped the 370 00:12:49,350 --> 00:12:47,760 energy ranges in a way that we were able 371 00:12:51,190 --> 00:12:49,360 to measure in the most important energy 372 00:12:52,870 --> 00:12:51,200 range at about a kilovolt we're able to 373 00:12:55,350 --> 00:12:52,880 measure independently with the two uh 374 00:12:57,670 --> 00:12:55,360 with the two uh instruments and so the 375 00:13:00,069 --> 00:12:57,680 graphics that we've put up now shows on 376 00:13:02,389 --> 00:13:00,079 the top the ibex high sky map at one 377 00:13:04,389 --> 00:13:02,399 kilovolt 1.1 kilovolts and the ibex low 378 00:13:06,069 --> 00:13:04,399 sky map at about a kilovolt very similar 379 00:13:08,310 --> 00:13:06,079 energies and while there's much better 380 00:13:11,430 --> 00:13:08,320 statistics in the ibex high sky map on 381 00:13:12,870 --> 00:13:11,440 top clearly the ribbon is is present is 382 00:13:14,949 --> 00:13:12,880 in the same place and has the same sort 383 00:13:16,790 --> 00:13:14,959 of characteristics as measured by ibex 384 00:13:19,110 --> 00:13:16,800 low so these measurements are completely 385 00:13:20,230 --> 00:13:19,120 independently confirmed by ibex itself 386 00:13:21,670 --> 00:13:20,240 and you're going to hear a little later 387 00:13:23,430 --> 00:13:21,680 in this press conference they're also 388 00:13:25,350 --> 00:13:23,440 confirmed and in fact extended with the 389 00:13:27,269 --> 00:13:25,360 cassini observations which don will talk 390 00:13:28,790 --> 00:13:27,279 about shortly 391 00:13:30,629 --> 00:13:28,800 so it'll be shocking 392 00:13:32,550 --> 00:13:30,639 shocking enough if what we found was a 393 00:13:34,870 --> 00:13:32,560 ribbon that was tens of degrees wide 10 394 00:13:36,710 --> 00:13:34,880 20 degrees wide but it's even more 395 00:13:39,030 --> 00:13:36,720 shocking than that because when we look 396 00:13:41,430 --> 00:13:39,040 with really high resolution and ibex has 397 00:13:44,310 --> 00:13:41,440 the the sensitivity to really look at 398 00:13:46,310 --> 00:13:44,320 very very narrow angular resolution we 399 00:13:47,750 --> 00:13:46,320 actually see fine structure 400 00:13:49,750 --> 00:13:47,760 and the graphic that we've put up here 401 00:13:52,710 --> 00:13:49,760 takes a piece of this ribbon south of 402 00:13:54,069 --> 00:13:52,720 the equator and and and and blows it up 403 00:13:55,990 --> 00:13:54,079 and in addition what we've done now is 404 00:13:57,990 --> 00:13:56,000 we've bend up the individual particles 405 00:13:59,590 --> 00:13:58,000 that we observe coming in in half degree 406 00:14:01,990 --> 00:13:59,600 bins and we've summed those half degree 407 00:14:03,670 --> 00:14:02,000 bins until we get about 100 counts in a 408 00:14:04,790 --> 00:14:03,680 bin which is good a good statistical 409 00:14:06,389 --> 00:14:04,800 number 410 00:14:08,150 --> 00:14:06,399 when you do that what you see is the 411 00:14:09,350 --> 00:14:08,160 ribbon itself has got a lot of fine 412 00:14:10,470 --> 00:14:09,360 structure in it that there are actually 413 00:14:11,990 --> 00:14:10,480 structures in there that are much 414 00:14:13,509 --> 00:14:12,000 brighter than the adjacent things that 415 00:14:15,670 --> 00:14:13,519 are only a degree or two or three 416 00:14:17,590 --> 00:14:15,680 degrees wide that's really shocking when 417 00:14:19,829 --> 00:14:17,600 these things are coming from a region 418 00:14:21,269 --> 00:14:19,839 that's so large and so distributed and 419 00:14:23,350 --> 00:14:21,279 nobody expected to see anything like 420 00:14:24,870 --> 00:14:23,360 that find structure 421 00:14:26,470 --> 00:14:24,880 so i just wanted to mention uh there are 422 00:14:28,550 --> 00:14:26,480 a lot of other great results coming out 423 00:14:29,910 --> 00:14:28,560 of ibex we have five papers that are 424 00:14:31,509 --> 00:14:29,920 just coming out in science right now 425 00:14:33,590 --> 00:14:31,519 posted online right now with this press 426 00:14:35,509 --> 00:14:33,600 conference a sixth from the from the 427 00:14:37,590 --> 00:14:35,519 cassini measurements they cover a lot of 428 00:14:39,269 --> 00:14:37,600 different areas i wanted to mention one 429 00:14:41,829 --> 00:14:39,279 more area for you and that's the direct 430 00:14:43,509 --> 00:14:41,839 detection of interstellar neutrals 431 00:14:45,030 --> 00:14:43,519 in addition to these neutral atoms which 432 00:14:46,550 --> 00:14:45,040 are created in the interaction region at 433 00:14:48,389 --> 00:14:46,560 the boundaries of the heliosphere 434 00:14:49,670 --> 00:14:48,399 they're also very low energy neutrals 435 00:14:52,710 --> 00:14:49,680 that are just wandering into the 436 00:14:54,629 --> 00:14:52,720 heliosphere as we move through uh move 437 00:14:56,710 --> 00:14:54,639 through the galaxy and previously 438 00:14:59,189 --> 00:14:56,720 spacecraft observations had seen helium 439 00:15:01,350 --> 00:14:59,199 directly but with ibex we've now made 440 00:15:03,750 --> 00:15:01,360 and have just published the very first 441 00:15:06,550 --> 00:15:03,760 observations direct observations of 442 00:15:08,470 --> 00:15:06,560 interstellar uh helium uh sorry hydrogen 443 00:15:10,389 --> 00:15:08,480 and oxygen in addition to observing 444 00:15:12,150 --> 00:15:10,399 helium and in the graphic that's put up 445 00:15:14,310 --> 00:15:12,160 now you can see those those three these 446 00:15:16,389 --> 00:15:14,320 are from the low energy detector ibex 447 00:15:18,470 --> 00:15:16,399 low and you can see these quite 448 00:15:20,389 --> 00:15:18,480 localized bright spots that are produced 449 00:15:22,470 --> 00:15:20,399 by the different species and they come 450 00:15:23,990 --> 00:15:22,480 from a time when ibex isn't exactly the 451 00:15:25,030 --> 00:15:24,000 right spot in the orbit that the 452 00:15:26,550 --> 00:15:25,040 particles coming in from the 453 00:15:28,629 --> 00:15:26,560 interstellar medium feel the force of 454 00:15:30,150 --> 00:15:28,639 gravity or bent around and come right 455 00:15:31,749 --> 00:15:30,160 into the aperture and so it's yet 456 00:15:34,310 --> 00:15:31,759 another type of observation of this 457 00:15:36,870 --> 00:15:34,320 interaction that we're making 458 00:15:38,150 --> 00:15:36,880 so with my final graphic i i want to 459 00:15:40,230 --> 00:15:38,160 answer the question 460 00:15:41,509 --> 00:15:40,240 so what is this ribbon uh and what does 461 00:15:42,870 --> 00:15:41,519 it mean 462 00:15:44,230 --> 00:15:42,880 unfortunately i can't answer that 463 00:15:45,829 --> 00:15:44,240 question because we don't know what this 464 00:15:48,389 --> 00:15:45,839 ribbon really is we know some 465 00:15:49,670 --> 00:15:48,399 interesting things about it though uh as 466 00:15:51,189 --> 00:15:49,680 soon as we saw this and you know we're 467 00:15:52,710 --> 00:15:51,199 building up the sky maps week by week 468 00:15:54,550 --> 00:15:52,720 and we see this bright thing like wow 469 00:15:56,949 --> 00:15:54,560 what's that you know and it goes around 470 00:15:59,030 --> 00:15:56,959 and it starts to wind up and holy moly 471 00:16:00,550 --> 00:15:59,040 so as we're looking at that and as it's 472 00:16:02,230 --> 00:16:00,560 building up people start to say what 473 00:16:03,829 --> 00:16:02,240 could it be what could it correlate with 474 00:16:05,670 --> 00:16:03,839 and we pretty quickly realized that the 475 00:16:07,509 --> 00:16:05,680 external magnetic field in the galaxy 476 00:16:09,269 --> 00:16:07,519 the local part of the galaxy uh what's 477 00:16:11,670 --> 00:16:09,279 called the uh the local interstellar 478 00:16:14,470 --> 00:16:11,680 magnetic field was oriented in just such 479 00:16:16,550 --> 00:16:14,480 a way that it seemed to organize these 480 00:16:18,389 --> 00:16:16,560 data and and and correlate with the 481 00:16:21,110 --> 00:16:18,399 ribbon and in the graphic that we've put 482 00:16:22,629 --> 00:16:21,120 up here you can see the the sort of a 483 00:16:24,710 --> 00:16:22,639 picture from the outside looking in 484 00:16:26,870 --> 00:16:24,720 we've painted the ribbon and the and the 485 00:16:29,189 --> 00:16:26,880 particle fluxes on this boundary of the 486 00:16:32,710 --> 00:16:29,199 heliosphere and then we've put in the 487 00:16:34,710 --> 00:16:32,720 the the the expected orientation of the 488 00:16:36,150 --> 00:16:34,720 external magnetic field and you can sort 489 00:16:37,430 --> 00:16:36,160 of think of that external magnet feel 490 00:16:38,870 --> 00:16:37,440 like a bunch of bungee cords if you're 491 00:16:40,870 --> 00:16:38,880 pushing a beach ball through bungee 492 00:16:42,870 --> 00:16:40,880 cords it kind of drapes around and 493 00:16:44,710 --> 00:16:42,880 pushes in on the beach ball but it also 494 00:16:46,310 --> 00:16:44,720 it also changes the shape of the bungee 495 00:16:48,230 --> 00:16:46,320 cords and that's sort of what magnetic 496 00:16:49,990 --> 00:16:48,240 field lines are like and so what you see 497 00:16:52,150 --> 00:16:50,000 here is the external magnetic field 498 00:16:54,470 --> 00:16:52,160 pushing in in the southern hemisphere of 499 00:16:56,710 --> 00:16:54,480 the of the heliosphere and also pushing 500 00:16:58,629 --> 00:16:56,720 in and squeezing it from the sides and 501 00:17:01,030 --> 00:16:58,639 just exactly where it's most bent and 502 00:17:03,430 --> 00:17:01,040 most draped around the outside 503 00:17:05,350 --> 00:17:03,440 is exactly where the ribbon is lying 504 00:17:07,669 --> 00:17:05,360 really a remarkable correlation and 505 00:17:09,189 --> 00:17:07,679 almost surely telling us that somehow 506 00:17:11,270 --> 00:17:09,199 this external magnetic field is really 507 00:17:13,189 --> 00:17:11,280 dominant and is playing another dominant 508 00:17:14,870 --> 00:17:13,199 role in the interaction but we don't 509 00:17:16,630 --> 00:17:14,880 understand the physical connection we 510 00:17:18,309 --> 00:17:16,640 don't know why 511 00:17:19,750 --> 00:17:18,319 having an external field that drapes 512 00:17:22,309 --> 00:17:19,760 around that way and pushes on the outer 513 00:17:24,710 --> 00:17:22,319 boundary that way really produces these 514 00:17:27,029 --> 00:17:24,720 200 300 percent higher fluxes than the 515 00:17:29,190 --> 00:17:27,039 surrounding regions and that's a really 516 00:17:30,710 --> 00:17:29,200 exciting and interesting part where we 517 00:17:33,110 --> 00:17:30,720 now have to go back and try to figure 518 00:17:35,110 --> 00:17:33,120 out what physics we're missing uh in all 519 00:17:36,470 --> 00:17:35,120 our models and understanding 520 00:17:38,470 --> 00:17:36,480 and so with that i'd like to pass it 521 00:17:41,669 --> 00:17:38,480 over to razeen lalima who's an expert in 522 00:17:43,590 --> 00:17:41,679 the environment around our heliosphere 523 00:17:45,990 --> 00:17:43,600 thank you dave 524 00:17:49,510 --> 00:17:46,000 let's go go back to the location of the 525 00:17:53,270 --> 00:17:49,520 sun in our galaxy and you may wonder 526 00:17:55,909 --> 00:17:53,280 whether such a galactic wind able to 527 00:17:58,789 --> 00:17:55,919 stop the solar wind and confine it 528 00:18:02,150 --> 00:17:58,799 within our heliosphere is a common 529 00:18:03,669 --> 00:18:02,160 situation and the answer is yes and as 530 00:18:05,750 --> 00:18:03,679 you can see 531 00:18:09,190 --> 00:18:05,760 in this movie showing the galaxy the 532 00:18:12,150 --> 00:18:09,200 galaxy is rotating but it is not 533 00:18:15,270 --> 00:18:12,160 rotating rigidly like a solid body 534 00:18:17,990 --> 00:18:15,280 instead all the stars and the clouds of 535 00:18:20,150 --> 00:18:18,000 gas and dust they are all moving with 536 00:18:22,789 --> 00:18:20,160 respect to each other this is due to the 537 00:18:27,110 --> 00:18:22,799 constant recycling of the matter stellar 538 00:18:29,990 --> 00:18:27,120 formation explosion etc so this is 539 00:18:31,909 --> 00:18:30,000 this is a as a consequence our sun is 540 00:18:33,110 --> 00:18:31,919 moving with respect to the ambient 541 00:18:36,390 --> 00:18:33,120 medium 542 00:18:39,750 --> 00:18:36,400 presently uh our star is crossing a very 543 00:18:42,870 --> 00:18:39,760 small uh interstellar cloud and this is 544 00:18:45,510 --> 00:18:42,880 this cloud is shaping us our heliosphere 545 00:18:46,549 --> 00:18:45,520 for the other stars of course there are 546 00:18:48,870 --> 00:18:46,559 also 547 00:18:51,990 --> 00:18:48,880 same structures same types of structure 548 00:18:54,710 --> 00:18:52,000 they are called astrospheres and in this 549 00:18:57,190 --> 00:18:54,720 picture here you can see three nice 550 00:19:00,549 --> 00:18:57,200 examples of such astrospheres 551 00:19:02,390 --> 00:19:00,559 recently imaged by the best telescopes 552 00:19:05,669 --> 00:19:02,400 and you can see from these three 553 00:19:08,789 --> 00:19:05,679 examples the big diversity i mean all 554 00:19:11,669 --> 00:19:08,799 these astrospheres are different because 555 00:19:14,310 --> 00:19:11,679 they are governed by 556 00:19:16,310 --> 00:19:14,320 the stellar type the type of medium 557 00:19:18,310 --> 00:19:16,320 which is the star is going through and 558 00:19:19,590 --> 00:19:18,320 the speed of the of the star the 559 00:19:22,310 --> 00:19:19,600 environment 560 00:19:24,950 --> 00:19:22,320 so all are different here as an example 561 00:19:26,950 --> 00:19:24,960 you can see on the top left 562 00:19:28,789 --> 00:19:26,960 a young star which is 563 00:19:31,750 --> 00:19:28,799 going very fast driving very fast 564 00:19:33,909 --> 00:19:31,760 through the orion nebula and you can see 565 00:19:37,510 --> 00:19:33,919 the very nicely the structure this is 566 00:19:39,750 --> 00:19:37,520 hst and on the top right you can see a 567 00:19:42,070 --> 00:19:39,760 very different example of a complex 568 00:19:45,669 --> 00:19:42,080 binary system where 569 00:19:47,110 --> 00:19:45,679 this system is ejecting a very dense 570 00:19:47,909 --> 00:19:47,120 wind 571 00:19:49,830 --> 00:19:47,919 we 572 00:19:53,510 --> 00:19:49,840 forming a 573 00:19:56,390 --> 00:19:53,520 peculiar shape and at the bottom you see 574 00:19:59,510 --> 00:19:56,400 the tail which is as long as 10 light 575 00:20:02,070 --> 00:19:59,520 years which is left behind the nearby 576 00:20:04,870 --> 00:20:02,080 star mira which is seen by the it has 577 00:20:07,350 --> 00:20:04,880 been imaged by the galaxy spacecraft in 578 00:20:08,390 --> 00:20:07,360 the far uv but 579 00:20:11,190 --> 00:20:08,400 these 580 00:20:14,870 --> 00:20:11,200 three cases and all the image cases of 581 00:20:16,470 --> 00:20:14,880 astrosphere are extreme cases there is 582 00:20:19,590 --> 00:20:16,480 no way 583 00:20:21,830 --> 00:20:19,600 to get such images for our heliosphere 584 00:20:24,149 --> 00:20:21,840 and the reason is where there are many 585 00:20:26,549 --> 00:20:24,159 reasons is that first 586 00:20:27,990 --> 00:20:26,559 the solar wind is very weak is among the 587 00:20:30,470 --> 00:20:28,000 weakest winds 588 00:20:33,909 --> 00:20:30,480 the the speed of the sun through the 589 00:20:36,470 --> 00:20:33,919 ambient medium is low is small and 590 00:20:38,310 --> 00:20:36,480 especially we are going through a very 591 00:20:39,350 --> 00:20:38,320 tenuous 592 00:20:42,070 --> 00:20:39,360 uh 593 00:20:44,470 --> 00:20:42,080 interstellar cloud and that we are in a 594 00:20:47,190 --> 00:20:44,480 very quiet environment no bright star 595 00:20:51,029 --> 00:20:47,200 around to illuminate the scene 596 00:20:53,350 --> 00:20:51,039 so this is why we we are unable to get 597 00:20:54,310 --> 00:20:53,360 those images but this is where 598 00:20:55,270 --> 00:20:54,320 uh 599 00:20:58,230 --> 00:20:55,280 having 600 00:20:59,190 --> 00:20:58,240 images of the heliosphere by gale pyre 601 00:21:03,510 --> 00:20:59,200 sorry 602 00:21:05,190 --> 00:21:03,520 by ibex is such a is so exciting 603 00:21:07,510 --> 00:21:05,200 because uh 604 00:21:09,909 --> 00:21:07,520 well i mean thanks to this beautiful 605 00:21:12,950 --> 00:21:09,919 idea to replace the photons by energetic 606 00:21:15,029 --> 00:21:12,960 neutral atoms as allowed to get such an 607 00:21:17,990 --> 00:21:15,039 image 608 00:21:19,909 --> 00:21:18,000 okay going back to this uh 609 00:21:24,070 --> 00:21:19,919 image that you have seen previously 610 00:21:26,470 --> 00:21:24,080 maybe the most exciting is the ribbon 611 00:21:30,630 --> 00:21:26,480 the spectacular ribbon that you can see 612 00:21:33,029 --> 00:21:30,640 this ribbon was totally unexpected and 613 00:21:35,190 --> 00:21:33,039 this the central the the axis of the 614 00:21:37,990 --> 00:21:35,200 ribbon as they've mentioned 615 00:21:39,590 --> 00:21:38,000 is corresponds to the direction which 616 00:21:40,549 --> 00:21:39,600 has been inferred 617 00:21:43,430 --> 00:21:40,559 to be 618 00:21:45,669 --> 00:21:43,440 very likely the direction of the ambient 619 00:21:47,750 --> 00:21:45,679 interstellar magnetic field 620 00:21:49,110 --> 00:21:47,760 the magnetic field around the 621 00:21:49,909 --> 00:21:49,120 heliosphere 622 00:21:52,470 --> 00:21:49,919 and 623 00:21:54,870 --> 00:21:52,480 as a matter of fact the an experiment on 624 00:21:57,669 --> 00:21:54,880 board the soho spacecraft 625 00:22:01,590 --> 00:21:57,679 called swan has demonstrated that our 626 00:22:03,750 --> 00:22:01,600 heliosphere is very strongly distorted 627 00:22:06,710 --> 00:22:03,760 and very lightly under the action of 628 00:22:08,070 --> 00:22:06,720 such an inclined magnetic field 629 00:22:10,070 --> 00:22:08,080 and if you 630 00:22:12,310 --> 00:22:10,080 see that this direction of the magnetic 631 00:22:15,590 --> 00:22:12,320 field is offset is completely different 632 00:22:18,950 --> 00:22:15,600 from the direction of motion you can see 633 00:22:21,750 --> 00:22:18,960 our heliosphere here as a gigantic 634 00:22:24,390 --> 00:22:21,760 interstellar magnetic compass i mean in 635 00:22:26,870 --> 00:22:24,400 the same way a needle is orientated by 636 00:22:29,590 --> 00:22:26,880 the earth's magnetic field here the 637 00:22:32,070 --> 00:22:29,600 orientation taken by the nose of our 638 00:22:34,950 --> 00:22:32,080 heliosphere gives you the direction of 639 00:22:35,669 --> 00:22:34,960 the ambient interstellar magnetic field 640 00:22:39,029 --> 00:22:35,679 so 641 00:22:42,549 --> 00:22:39,039 even if this ribbon is organized around 642 00:22:44,390 --> 00:22:42,559 the ambient field as dave said it is not 643 00:22:48,070 --> 00:22:44,400 understood and this is also very 644 00:22:49,190 --> 00:22:48,080 exciting because it is calling for a new 645 00:22:55,830 --> 00:22:49,200 physics 646 00:22:57,750 --> 00:22:55,840 evidently apply to the other 647 00:23:01,190 --> 00:22:57,760 system to the other astrosphere and this 648 00:23:04,710 --> 00:23:01,200 is extremely interesting too 649 00:23:06,549 --> 00:23:04,720 okay lindsay now will tell us about 650 00:23:09,669 --> 00:23:06,559 our heliosphere and how it is a 651 00:23:12,390 --> 00:23:09,679 comfortable location 652 00:23:13,669 --> 00:23:12,400 okay so the heliosphere is our home in 653 00:23:14,710 --> 00:23:13,679 the galaxy 654 00:23:16,630 --> 00:23:14,720 and 655 00:23:19,830 --> 00:23:16,640 our sun actually 656 00:23:22,070 --> 00:23:19,840 does orbit the center of the galaxy 657 00:23:25,110 --> 00:23:22,080 please roll the movie and i'm going to 658 00:23:27,190 --> 00:23:25,120 show you how the sun and all the stars 659 00:23:29,669 --> 00:23:27,200 actually bob up and down through the 660 00:23:31,350 --> 00:23:29,679 galaxy as they orbit 661 00:23:35,430 --> 00:23:31,360 taking hundreds of millions of years to 662 00:23:39,190 --> 00:23:37,190 the heliosphere comes up you'll see it 663 00:23:41,669 --> 00:23:39,200 in just a moment and 664 00:23:43,350 --> 00:23:41,679 as dave and rosine have said it it 665 00:23:44,870 --> 00:23:43,360 orbits around the center of the galaxy 666 00:23:47,269 --> 00:23:44,880 here it is here it's going to pass 667 00:23:49,510 --> 00:23:47,279 through regions that are denser and less 668 00:23:52,789 --> 00:23:49,520 dense as it passes through regions that 669 00:23:54,310 --> 00:23:52,799 are denser the heliosphere shrinks and 670 00:23:56,070 --> 00:23:54,320 then as it passes through regions that 671 00:23:57,510 --> 00:23:56,080 are less dense it's actually able to 672 00:24:00,149 --> 00:23:57,520 expand 673 00:24:02,470 --> 00:24:00,159 so these regions that it passes through 674 00:24:05,990 --> 00:24:02,480 help change the size and shape of the 675 00:24:08,390 --> 00:24:06,000 heliosphere over long periods of time 676 00:24:10,149 --> 00:24:08,400 also the sun's solar wind actually 677 00:24:12,149 --> 00:24:10,159 varies causing the heliosphere to 678 00:24:13,830 --> 00:24:12,159 breathe periodically 679 00:24:16,310 --> 00:24:13,840 that along with the magnetic field that 680 00:24:18,789 --> 00:24:16,320 we've just been discussing all of those 681 00:24:20,789 --> 00:24:18,799 factors and possibly other ones 682 00:24:22,710 --> 00:24:20,799 contribute to the shape of our home in 683 00:24:25,590 --> 00:24:22,720 the galaxy 684 00:24:28,549 --> 00:24:25,600 now this heliosphere is very important 685 00:24:30,470 --> 00:24:28,559 to us because it helps protect us from 686 00:24:32,230 --> 00:24:30,480 dangerous cosmic rays that come from 687 00:24:34,870 --> 00:24:32,240 outside of the gala 688 00:24:37,269 --> 00:24:34,880 outside of the heliosphere and 689 00:24:39,510 --> 00:24:37,279 those cosmic rays as they 690 00:24:40,950 --> 00:24:39,520 come near by are deflected so if you 691 00:24:43,750 --> 00:24:40,960 show the graph 692 00:24:45,350 --> 00:24:43,760 you can see on this picture the fraction 693 00:24:47,909 --> 00:24:45,360 of cosmic rays that are able to 694 00:24:49,909 --> 00:24:47,919 penetrate into the solar system it 695 00:24:53,110 --> 00:24:49,919 starts out at a very high percent and 696 00:24:54,630 --> 00:24:53,120 then as it moves through the heliosphere 697 00:24:56,630 --> 00:24:54,640 many of them are deflected and only a 698 00:24:57,990 --> 00:24:56,640 small percentage are able to make it 699 00:24:59,350 --> 00:24:58,000 into the inner 700 00:25:01,830 --> 00:24:59,360 solar system 701 00:25:04,070 --> 00:25:01,840 fortunately for us uh earth's magnetic 702 00:25:06,149 --> 00:25:04,080 field is usually able to protect life on 703 00:25:09,110 --> 00:25:06,159 earth uh from these dangerous cosmic 704 00:25:10,549 --> 00:25:09,120 rays however uh astronauts on deep space 705 00:25:13,190 --> 00:25:10,559 missions aren't able to bring the 706 00:25:16,630 --> 00:25:13,200 earth's protection with them 707 00:25:20,630 --> 00:25:16,640 so having the ibex data and 708 00:25:23,190 --> 00:25:20,640 being able to understand this protection 709 00:25:25,350 --> 00:25:23,200 around us is really going to be critical 710 00:25:26,390 --> 00:25:25,360 now this is a snapshot as as we are 711 00:25:28,470 --> 00:25:26,400 today 712 00:25:31,750 --> 00:25:28,480 and nasa has actually been observing 713 00:25:34,310 --> 00:25:31,760 higher and higher levels of cosmic rays 714 00:25:35,669 --> 00:25:34,320 but in the distant past and in the far 715 00:25:37,909 --> 00:25:35,679 future 716 00:25:39,269 --> 00:25:37,919 since the heliosphere may change in size 717 00:25:41,830 --> 00:25:39,279 and shape 718 00:25:44,950 --> 00:25:41,840 the heliosphere might one day or maybe 719 00:25:46,710 --> 00:25:44,960 in the past has shrunk down so small 720 00:25:49,110 --> 00:25:46,720 that it's inside of the earth's orbit 721 00:25:51,990 --> 00:25:49,120 exposing the earth to many more cosmic 722 00:25:57,510 --> 00:25:54,630 having all these new data and being able 723 00:25:59,190 --> 00:25:57,520 to come up with new ideas about how the 724 00:26:01,350 --> 00:25:59,200 heliosphere works 725 00:26:04,310 --> 00:26:01,360 is is really exciting and helping us 726 00:26:06,549 --> 00:26:04,320 understand our home in the galaxy 727 00:26:09,190 --> 00:26:06,559 with that uh don is now going to tell us 728 00:26:10,149 --> 00:26:09,200 about some other observations 729 00:26:12,710 --> 00:26:10,159 that 730 00:26:14,070 --> 00:26:12,720 complement the ibex observations thanks 731 00:26:15,110 --> 00:26:14,080 lindsey 732 00:26:16,310 --> 00:26:15,120 well 733 00:26:20,070 --> 00:26:16,320 while 734 00:26:21,350 --> 00:26:20,080 ibex was being built and 735 00:26:23,190 --> 00:26:21,360 put together 736 00:26:25,029 --> 00:26:23,200 there was another mission already in 737 00:26:29,190 --> 00:26:25,039 flight the cassini mission which was 738 00:26:31,510 --> 00:26:29,200 orbiting saturn it was launched in 1997 739 00:26:33,510 --> 00:26:31,520 cassini has on board an 740 00:26:34,950 --> 00:26:33,520 energetic neutral atom imager which was 741 00:26:35,909 --> 00:26:34,960 designed to 742 00:26:39,029 --> 00:26:35,919 to 743 00:26:39,750 --> 00:26:39,039 of saturn 744 00:26:42,149 --> 00:26:39,760 but 745 00:26:44,310 --> 00:26:42,159 it's not particular it'll image any ena 746 00:26:47,510 --> 00:26:44,320 that happened to come its way 747 00:26:51,190 --> 00:26:47,520 if you the graphic we have here shows 748 00:26:53,110 --> 00:26:51,200 saturn and cassini's relationship to the 749 00:26:55,029 --> 00:26:53,120 heliosphere 750 00:26:57,669 --> 00:26:55,039 the earth is at one astronomical unit 751 00:26:59,190 --> 00:26:57,679 from the sun saturn's at 10 astronomical 752 00:27:01,909 --> 00:26:59,200 units 753 00:27:03,830 --> 00:27:01,919 it's it's a long ways from the sun but 754 00:27:05,830 --> 00:27:03,840 it's not very far from the center of the 755 00:27:08,789 --> 00:27:05,840 heliosphere on heliospheric 756 00:27:11,350 --> 00:27:08,799 distances so the perspective from saturn 757 00:27:12,870 --> 00:27:11,360 from cassini is very similar to to that 758 00:27:15,029 --> 00:27:12,880 that ibex has 759 00:27:16,070 --> 00:27:15,039 the operations of that spacecraft were 760 00:27:17,430 --> 00:27:16,080 different 761 00:27:18,630 --> 00:27:17,440 its 762 00:27:20,470 --> 00:27:18,640 main 763 00:27:22,310 --> 00:27:20,480 object of interest is saturn in the 764 00:27:24,549 --> 00:27:22,320 saturn system so it was doing a lot of 765 00:27:26,470 --> 00:27:24,559 pointing at saturn not a very good place 766 00:27:29,430 --> 00:27:26,480 to look if you're trying to image enas 767 00:27:31,269 --> 00:27:29,440 from the heliosphere but uh over the 768 00:27:33,750 --> 00:27:31,279 course of the years that we've been 769 00:27:35,350 --> 00:27:33,760 there this spacecraft's been that in or 770 00:27:37,590 --> 00:27:35,360 orbit saturn since 771 00:27:39,110 --> 00:27:37,600 mid 2004 and we actually began this 772 00:27:42,070 --> 00:27:39,120 process a little before that in late 773 00:27:45,269 --> 00:27:42,080 2003 until the present we've been able 774 00:27:48,549 --> 00:27:45,279 to get enough snapshots of the sky from 775 00:27:50,950 --> 00:27:48,559 looking away to get the next graphic 776 00:27:53,669 --> 00:27:50,960 which is an image which is built up over 777 00:27:56,070 --> 00:27:53,679 those years using the iron the neutral 778 00:27:58,389 --> 00:27:56,080 camera on the cassini spacecraft now 779 00:28:00,470 --> 00:27:58,399 this is in the same general format as 780 00:28:03,590 --> 00:28:00,480 the ibex data was shown to you before a 781 00:28:06,230 --> 00:28:03,600 little different color bar you can see 782 00:28:07,669 --> 00:28:06,240 that central bar of of emission coming 783 00:28:10,470 --> 00:28:07,679 down through 784 00:28:11,350 --> 00:28:10,480 the the nose of the heliosphere in this 785 00:28:13,510 --> 00:28:11,360 image 786 00:28:15,909 --> 00:28:13,520 it's uh it's a little different from the 787 00:28:18,630 --> 00:28:15,919 ibex but actually very similar to the 788 00:28:21,269 --> 00:28:18,640 highest energy channels on ibex the 789 00:28:23,110 --> 00:28:21,279 incus sensor starts off at about eight 790 00:28:25,350 --> 00:28:23,120 kilovolts which is about a factor of two 791 00:28:27,830 --> 00:28:25,360 higher in energy than the lowest than 792 00:28:30,230 --> 00:28:27,840 the highest energy channel on ibex so 793 00:28:31,909 --> 00:28:30,240 this is very complementary to ibex and 794 00:28:33,510 --> 00:28:31,919 the fact that we see a structure that's 795 00:28:36,710 --> 00:28:33,520 extremely similar to what the high 796 00:28:38,710 --> 00:28:36,720 energy channels on ibex show is a very 797 00:28:41,029 --> 00:28:38,720 good confirmation of those results right 798 00:28:42,149 --> 00:28:41,039 off the bat now 799 00:28:44,149 --> 00:28:42,159 you can see 800 00:28:45,430 --> 00:28:44,159 if you squint that there's a voyager 1 801 00:28:47,430 --> 00:28:45,440 in voyager 2 they're in the same 802 00:28:49,750 --> 00:28:47,440 position in this in this diagram as they 803 00:28:52,789 --> 00:28:49,760 were shown earlier and 804 00:28:54,950 --> 00:28:52,799 those those two are actually uh 805 00:28:56,149 --> 00:28:54,960 seeing on the fringes of this broader 806 00:28:58,149 --> 00:28:56,159 feature that you see at the high 807 00:29:00,470 --> 00:28:58,159 energies but the other interesting 808 00:29:02,549 --> 00:29:00,480 feature of this diagram are the two blue 809 00:29:04,149 --> 00:29:02,559 areas those are voids where there's very 810 00:29:05,830 --> 00:29:04,159 little emission 811 00:29:08,230 --> 00:29:05,840 and this is where we think that the 812 00:29:10,070 --> 00:29:08,240 local interstellar magnetic field points 813 00:29:11,350 --> 00:29:10,080 is very similar to what dave was talking 814 00:29:13,750 --> 00:29:11,360 about earlier 815 00:29:16,789 --> 00:29:13,760 if we look at the next graphic 816 00:29:18,870 --> 00:29:16,799 this is the same data but now displayed 817 00:29:20,789 --> 00:29:18,880 in galactic coordinates 818 00:29:22,230 --> 00:29:20,799 and in galactic 819 00:29:25,430 --> 00:29:22,240 if if we were to 820 00:29:27,110 --> 00:29:25,440 show the the galaxy that 821 00:29:28,870 --> 00:29:27,120 lindsey showed and that eric showed 822 00:29:30,630 --> 00:29:28,880 earlier in this coordinate system it 823 00:29:33,669 --> 00:29:30,640 would just be a horizontal line you'd be 824 00:29:36,549 --> 00:29:33,679 looking at it edge on but so our data is 825 00:29:38,549 --> 00:29:36,559 broader than that feature and it's also 826 00:29:40,470 --> 00:29:38,559 at a bit of an angle it's not exactly 827 00:29:43,029 --> 00:29:40,480 aligned with the galaxy but neither is 828 00:29:44,070 --> 00:29:43,039 the local interstellar magnetic field 829 00:29:45,909 --> 00:29:44,080 exactly 830 00:29:47,669 --> 00:29:45,919 lined with the poles of of the galactic 831 00:29:49,909 --> 00:29:47,679 plane so 832 00:29:51,510 --> 00:29:49,919 so this is again consistent with that 833 00:29:53,350 --> 00:29:51,520 what it also shows is that we have a 834 00:29:55,750 --> 00:29:53,360 fairly continuous belt of emission of 835 00:29:57,750 --> 00:29:55,760 these energies that goes all the way 836 00:29:59,269 --> 00:29:57,760 around the globe 837 00:30:02,149 --> 00:29:59,279 and if i can go then back to the 838 00:30:03,190 --> 00:30:02,159 previous graphic i wanted to also point 839 00:30:05,830 --> 00:30:03,200 out that 840 00:30:07,990 --> 00:30:05,840 the voyagers are there they're in these 841 00:30:10,710 --> 00:30:08,000 energies the emission is broad enough to 842 00:30:12,389 --> 00:30:10,720 include the voyagers so it's entirely 843 00:30:15,830 --> 00:30:12,399 relevant to 844 00:30:18,870 --> 00:30:15,840 uh consider this to be a global map of 845 00:30:21,510 --> 00:30:18,880 what voyages see we have with the inca 846 00:30:23,430 --> 00:30:21,520 sensor energies that go up to the 847 00:30:26,549 --> 00:30:23,440 energies that the voyager sensors 848 00:30:28,789 --> 00:30:26,559 measure in situ so we are 849 00:30:29,990 --> 00:30:28,799 we essentially bridge the energy gap 850 00:30:32,230 --> 00:30:30,000 between 851 00:30:34,789 --> 00:30:32,240 where ibex leaves off and where voyager 852 00:30:36,549 --> 00:30:34,799 picks up measuring the particles 853 00:30:39,110 --> 00:30:36,559 the energetic particles that are 854 00:30:41,510 --> 00:30:39,120 producing pressure out in this medium 855 00:30:42,630 --> 00:30:41,520 and the combined information from all 856 00:30:43,590 --> 00:30:42,640 three 857 00:30:45,990 --> 00:30:43,600 missions 858 00:30:48,230 --> 00:30:46,000 allows us to get a pressure 859 00:30:50,710 --> 00:30:48,240 uh of those particles out there and 860 00:30:52,789 --> 00:30:50,720 therefore understand better the 861 00:30:54,630 --> 00:30:52,799 relationship of the of the magnetic 862 00:30:57,669 --> 00:30:54,640 field containment of the interstellar 863 00:30:59,909 --> 00:30:57,679 magnetic field uh to the the particle 864 00:31:02,389 --> 00:30:59,919 pressure that that's outside the 865 00:31:04,470 --> 00:31:02,399 termination shock of the heliosphere so 866 00:31:06,470 --> 00:31:04,480 dave i'd like to turn it back to you 867 00:31:08,630 --> 00:31:06,480 thanks don these are all really exciting 868 00:31:10,310 --> 00:31:08,640 results i just wanted to bring you back 869 00:31:11,669 --> 00:31:10,320 to the main discoveries 870 00:31:13,590 --> 00:31:11,679 so 871 00:31:15,750 --> 00:31:13,600 what we've observed with ibex is this 872 00:31:18,070 --> 00:31:15,760 really narrow ribbon 873 00:31:20,389 --> 00:31:18,080 of strong emission lots of particles 874 00:31:21,750 --> 00:31:20,399 lots of neutral atoms coming in from the 875 00:31:23,990 --> 00:31:21,760 interaction at the edge of our 876 00:31:25,750 --> 00:31:24,000 heliosphere the edge of our solar system 877 00:31:27,909 --> 00:31:25,760 this ribbon winds between the two 878 00:31:29,269 --> 00:31:27,919 voyager spacecraft and wasn't observed 879 00:31:31,269 --> 00:31:29,279 by either of them they were both out 880 00:31:33,590 --> 00:31:31,279 there making these local observations 881 00:31:35,350 --> 00:31:33,600 and had no idea that the main storm in 882 00:31:37,110 --> 00:31:35,360 some sense was running right down 883 00:31:39,110 --> 00:31:37,120 between them 884 00:31:40,950 --> 00:31:39,120 the ribbon is very narrow has a lot of 885 00:31:43,110 --> 00:31:40,960 fine structure in it meaning that 886 00:31:44,950 --> 00:31:43,120 somehow the particles are confined in 887 00:31:47,029 --> 00:31:44,960 very very localized regions we have no 888 00:31:49,430 --> 00:31:47,039 idea how that can happen 889 00:31:51,430 --> 00:31:49,440 it's aligned by and dominated by the 890 00:31:53,110 --> 00:31:51,440 external magnetic field as rosin talked 891 00:31:55,269 --> 00:31:53,120 about at some length 892 00:31:57,029 --> 00:31:55,279 that's a huge that's a huge clue as to 893 00:31:58,710 --> 00:31:57,039 what's going on but even when we put 894 00:32:00,630 --> 00:31:58,720 that magnetic field into our models and 895 00:32:02,070 --> 00:32:00,640 our theories it doesn't produce this 896 00:32:04,310 --> 00:32:02,080 bright ena 897 00:32:06,070 --> 00:32:04,320 ribbon so still we're missing some 898 00:32:07,990 --> 00:32:06,080 really fundamental aspect of the 899 00:32:09,269 --> 00:32:08,000 interaction some fundamental physics 900 00:32:10,630 --> 00:32:09,279 that's missing from from our 901 00:32:13,110 --> 00:32:10,640 understanding 902 00:32:14,549 --> 00:32:13,120 so what's next we're obviously working 903 00:32:16,389 --> 00:32:14,559 on that the theorists and modelers are 904 00:32:17,990 --> 00:32:16,399 going like crazy trying to make this 905 00:32:19,830 --> 00:32:18,000 connection and figuring out figure out 906 00:32:21,990 --> 00:32:19,840 what got left out and and how it's 907 00:32:23,669 --> 00:32:22,000 really working at the same time ibex 908 00:32:25,350 --> 00:32:23,679 continues to spin away and keep 909 00:32:27,110 --> 00:32:25,360 repointing around the sun like we talked 910 00:32:28,789 --> 00:32:27,120 about we're already part way through the 911 00:32:29,990 --> 00:32:28,799 second sky map and while the ribbon is 912 00:32:31,430 --> 00:32:30,000 still there 913 00:32:32,870 --> 00:32:31,440 there's some suggestion that it's 914 00:32:34,549 --> 00:32:32,880 actually slightly different and and 915 00:32:36,470 --> 00:32:34,559 maybe evolving over the six months 916 00:32:38,230 --> 00:32:36,480 between the image that we've published 917 00:32:39,750 --> 00:32:38,240 now and and the next images so it's 918 00:32:42,230 --> 00:32:39,760 really going to be fascinating to watch 919 00:32:44,549 --> 00:32:42,240 this feature potentially change over 920 00:32:46,310 --> 00:32:44,559 over over the years and and maybe over 921 00:32:48,549 --> 00:32:46,320 the solar cycle 922 00:32:50,950 --> 00:32:48,559 and so with that dwayne okay thank you 923 00:32:53,430 --> 00:32:50,960 all um and again um 924 00:32:55,590 --> 00:32:53,440 we will open it up for questions and my 925 00:32:57,909 --> 00:32:55,600 apologies to the tv audience and our 926 00:32:59,909 --> 00:32:57,919 presenters for the construction noise uh 927 00:33:01,509 --> 00:32:59,919 when you have live tv sometimes things 928 00:33:02,950 --> 00:33:01,519 happen but perhaps we can send that 929 00:33:04,070 --> 00:33:02,960 drill out to the heliosphere i don't 930 00:33:04,950 --> 00:33:04,080 know so 931 00:33:06,789 --> 00:33:04,960 um 932 00:33:07,830 --> 00:33:06,799 let's see well i have some uh some 933 00:33:10,950 --> 00:33:07,840 questions that have come in on my 934 00:33:13,029 --> 00:33:10,960 monitor here and uh the three from one 935 00:33:15,110 --> 00:33:13,039 of the several space.coms out there in 936 00:33:17,590 --> 00:33:15,120 tv land so dave i think this one's for 937 00:33:19,590 --> 00:33:17,600 you and maybe to the team members what's 938 00:33:21,029 --> 00:33:19,600 the next step with this data for for the 939 00:33:22,470 --> 00:33:21,039 science team 940 00:33:24,389 --> 00:33:22,480 so the next step with this data that 941 00:33:26,389 --> 00:33:24,399 we've published today in science and in 942 00:33:28,310 --> 00:33:26,399 this coordinated set of papers is to 943 00:33:30,630 --> 00:33:28,320 really go through all of the detailed 944 00:33:32,630 --> 00:33:30,640 observations and rack them up against 945 00:33:33,990 --> 00:33:32,640 the different theories and models to try 946 00:33:35,669 --> 00:33:34,000 to really come to an understanding of 947 00:33:38,149 --> 00:33:35,679 which of these theories and models you 948 00:33:39,990 --> 00:33:38,159 know are a good starting point for the 949 00:33:42,470 --> 00:33:40,000 understanding that we have and which 950 00:33:45,110 --> 00:33:42,480 which need more modification and really 951 00:33:47,269 --> 00:33:45,120 to go try to find what piece what thing 952 00:33:48,950 --> 00:33:47,279 it is that we've all just kind of been i 953 00:33:50,630 --> 00:33:48,960 bet it'll be obvious in retrospect just 954 00:33:52,710 --> 00:33:50,640 so often these things are but that we've 955 00:33:54,710 --> 00:33:52,720 been leaving out of of of this sort of 956 00:33:56,789 --> 00:33:54,720 interaction so that's that's really the 957 00:33:58,070 --> 00:33:56,799 next uh the next main effort i think for 958 00:34:00,230 --> 00:33:58,080 the team 959 00:34:03,909 --> 00:34:00,240 and i believe this question comes in uh 960 00:34:13,190 --> 00:34:05,509 the 961 00:34:14,790 --> 00:34:13,200 portfolio that's a good question let me 962 00:34:17,109 --> 00:34:14,800 start out by saying that 963 00:34:17,909 --> 00:34:17,119 in the heliophysics portfolio we try to 964 00:34:20,470 --> 00:34:17,919 have 965 00:34:22,710 --> 00:34:20,480 a mix of missions and these range from 966 00:34:23,589 --> 00:34:22,720 things like sounding rockets which are 967 00:34:28,790 --> 00:34:23,599 are 968 00:34:30,069 --> 00:34:28,800 up to uh major uh missions and perhaps 969 00:34:32,550 --> 00:34:30,079 even someday 970 00:34:34,310 --> 00:34:32,560 uh a flagship type mission that will 971 00:34:36,389 --> 00:34:34,320 explore the inner part of the 972 00:34:37,349 --> 00:34:36,399 heliosphere around the sun 973 00:34:40,389 --> 00:34:37,359 and 974 00:34:43,190 --> 00:34:40,399 ibex is from a class of missions called 975 00:34:45,510 --> 00:34:43,200 smacks small explorers 976 00:34:47,829 --> 00:34:45,520 there was a cap emission cap 977 00:34:48,869 --> 00:34:47,839 set on this one i i'm gonna look at dave 978 00:34:51,109 --> 00:34:48,879 and i'm gonna i'm gonna say there's 979 00:34:52,790 --> 00:34:51,119 around 90 million dollars am i 980 00:34:55,349 --> 00:34:52,800 about right at that and the cost of our 981 00:34:57,270 --> 00:34:55,359 launchers are rounding around 40 million 982 00:34:59,349 --> 00:34:57,280 dollars so the total cost is in the 983 00:35:00,790 --> 00:34:59,359 neighborhood of 130 million dollars this 984 00:35:03,109 --> 00:35:00,800 is a this is a 985 00:35:05,349 --> 00:35:03,119 a small space space flight mission for 986 00:35:07,670 --> 00:35:06,470 okay 987 00:35:10,069 --> 00:35:07,680 a question here from one of the 988 00:35:11,670 --> 00:35:10,079 network.coms and i believe this is 989 00:35:13,670 --> 00:35:11,680 going to give everyone an opportunity 990 00:35:14,870 --> 00:35:13,680 they want to know what is your 991 00:35:17,109 --> 00:35:14,880 personal 992 00:35:19,750 --> 00:35:17,119 feelings reaction when you 993 00:35:21,910 --> 00:35:19,760 saw this data 994 00:35:24,310 --> 00:35:21,920 and the possibility so eric you want a 995 00:35:25,190 --> 00:35:24,320 personal reaction and 996 00:35:27,030 --> 00:35:25,200 well 997 00:35:29,030 --> 00:35:27,040 as a scientist having worked on voyager 998 00:35:33,349 --> 00:35:29,040 for many years i mean my first reaction 999 00:35:36,630 --> 00:35:34,390 we 1000 00:35:39,510 --> 00:35:36,640 the most interesting part of this 1001 00:35:40,630 --> 00:35:39,520 interaction region the voyagers miss 1002 00:35:43,990 --> 00:35:40,640 and 1003 00:35:46,470 --> 00:35:44,000 that was surprising exciting we've got a 1004 00:35:48,550 --> 00:35:46,480 lot to learn 1005 00:35:50,790 --> 00:35:48,560 should i go next yeah 1006 00:35:53,030 --> 00:35:50,800 so um 1007 00:35:55,349 --> 00:35:53,040 i guess my first reaction was 1008 00:35:56,870 --> 00:35:55,359 terror 1009 00:35:58,710 --> 00:35:56,880 because we 1010 00:35:59,990 --> 00:35:58,720 as we started to get these swaths back 1011 00:36:02,390 --> 00:36:00,000 and you know it's sort of like it's sort 1012 00:36:04,310 --> 00:36:02,400 of like you get mail once a week and in 1013 00:36:06,230 --> 00:36:04,320 the mail you get the next swath and you 1014 00:36:08,710 --> 00:36:06,240 look and you go no 1015 00:36:10,550 --> 00:36:08,720 that that cannot be right there's some 1016 00:36:12,390 --> 00:36:10,560 background there's some noise we haven't 1017 00:36:13,910 --> 00:36:12,400 done something right something's wrong 1018 00:36:15,270 --> 00:36:13,920 you know what's wrong how do we fix it 1019 00:36:16,950 --> 00:36:15,280 so that we can actually do the mission 1020 00:36:19,190 --> 00:36:16,960 that we're supposed to be doing and it 1021 00:36:22,310 --> 00:36:19,200 was actually over many many weeks and in 1022 00:36:24,150 --> 00:36:22,320 fact months as these new swaths came in 1023 00:36:26,470 --> 00:36:24,160 and as they started not to all be at the 1024 00:36:29,030 --> 00:36:26,480 same spin phase for the spacecraft but 1025 00:36:30,790 --> 00:36:29,040 wind up along at different at different 1026 00:36:32,230 --> 00:36:30,800 angles and have different fine structure 1027 00:36:33,990 --> 00:36:32,240 and all that it was actually quite a 1028 00:36:36,069 --> 00:36:34,000 long time before we convinced ourselves 1029 00:36:37,430 --> 00:36:36,079 that we were right 1030 00:36:38,470 --> 00:36:37,440 and that all of what we thought before 1031 00:36:40,230 --> 00:36:38,480 was wrong 1032 00:36:42,150 --> 00:36:40,240 but but there was a long time there 1033 00:36:43,910 --> 00:36:42,160 where that was that was not where we 1034 00:36:44,950 --> 00:36:43,920 started and it was kind of a scary time 1035 00:36:45,990 --> 00:36:44,960 for me 1036 00:36:48,150 --> 00:36:46,000 rosie 1037 00:36:49,829 --> 00:36:48,160 well very shortly my first reaction was 1038 00:36:51,910 --> 00:36:49,839 wrong 1039 00:36:55,990 --> 00:36:51,920 because i thought that the we were 1040 00:36:57,829 --> 00:36:56,000 seeing uh something i worked on which is 1041 00:37:00,230 --> 00:36:57,839 we know that the sun will 1042 00:37:03,270 --> 00:37:00,240 leave our small cloud and there is a 1043 00:37:05,829 --> 00:37:03,280 next cloud it will enter very well soon 1044 00:37:08,870 --> 00:37:05,839 it should enter one day and we don't 1045 00:37:11,190 --> 00:37:08,880 know if the two clouds are touching each 1046 00:37:13,349 --> 00:37:11,200 other if if they do because one is 1047 00:37:15,109 --> 00:37:13,359 faster than the than our cloud there 1048 00:37:17,030 --> 00:37:15,119 must be an interstellar shock so when i 1049 00:37:18,310 --> 00:37:17,040 saw that uh maybe we see 1050 00:37:20,310 --> 00:37:18,320 some uh 1051 00:37:22,870 --> 00:37:20,320 feature apparently to this interstellar 1052 00:37:26,630 --> 00:37:22,880 shock but that was for five minutes only 1053 00:37:27,670 --> 00:37:26,640 then i realized it has nothing to do 1054 00:37:30,230 --> 00:37:27,680 okay 1055 00:37:32,630 --> 00:37:30,240 i certainly looked at it and because it 1056 00:37:35,109 --> 00:37:32,640 looked nothing like any of the 1057 00:37:37,349 --> 00:37:35,119 initial predicted maps 1058 00:37:39,510 --> 00:37:37,359 i said what is that and how am i going 1059 00:37:41,750 --> 00:37:39,520 to explain it to people because as the 1060 00:37:44,230 --> 00:37:41,760 education person on the team 1061 00:37:46,230 --> 00:37:44,240 i know that my job is going to be 1062 00:37:47,750 --> 00:37:46,240 explaining this ribbon and i of course 1063 00:37:50,950 --> 00:37:47,760 have to wait for people to figure out 1064 00:37:54,069 --> 00:37:50,960 what it is but then um to to come up 1065 00:37:56,630 --> 00:37:54,079 with some easy ways to explain it uh to 1066 00:37:58,630 --> 00:37:56,640 show it in our planetarium show uh to 1067 00:38:01,430 --> 00:37:58,640 make a model of it that people can touch 1068 00:38:04,790 --> 00:38:01,440 and feel and experiment with so 1069 00:38:07,030 --> 00:38:04,800 my questions are still going 1070 00:38:09,510 --> 00:38:07,040 well i think my reaction was somewhat 1071 00:38:11,990 --> 00:38:09,520 similar to dave's in that i didn't see 1072 00:38:13,430 --> 00:38:12,000 it coming in day by day but but i was 1073 00:38:15,109 --> 00:38:13,440 doing this independent measurement with 1074 00:38:16,950 --> 00:38:15,119 the cassini 1075 00:38:18,790 --> 00:38:16,960 spacecraft and and trying to put 1076 00:38:21,510 --> 00:38:18,800 together this sky map and 1077 00:38:23,589 --> 00:38:21,520 uh it was quite a job 1078 00:38:25,190 --> 00:38:23,599 it's a different kind of a mission we're 1079 00:38:26,790 --> 00:38:25,200 pointing all over the place we have to 1080 00:38:28,790 --> 00:38:26,800 motion compensate everything on the 1081 00:38:30,550 --> 00:38:28,800 spacecraft we've got to get the right 1082 00:38:32,390 --> 00:38:30,560 frame it was it was quite a lot of 1083 00:38:35,109 --> 00:38:32,400 software to develop and so every time 1084 00:38:37,910 --> 00:38:35,119 i'd see a new map i'd say that can't be 1085 00:38:39,349 --> 00:38:37,920 right and a lot of times it wasn't but 1086 00:38:41,109 --> 00:38:39,359 toward the end we started getting very 1087 00:38:42,950 --> 00:38:41,119 consistent results and then we started 1088 00:38:45,190 --> 00:38:42,960 comparing them with with ibex and we're 1089 00:38:47,190 --> 00:38:45,200 getting very consistent results with 1090 00:38:48,870 --> 00:38:47,200 ibex that's when my confidence grew in 1091 00:38:51,270 --> 00:38:48,880 what we were doing and it's it's really 1092 00:38:52,230 --> 00:38:51,280 turned out to be a treasure so 1093 00:38:53,589 --> 00:38:52,240 uh 1094 00:38:55,589 --> 00:38:53,599 very happy with it 1095 00:38:57,430 --> 00:38:55,599 well uh lindsay from there when i can 1096 00:38:59,829 --> 00:38:57,440 hear my earpiece you guys are doing a 1097 00:39:01,670 --> 00:38:59,839 really good job explaining it so 1098 00:39:03,589 --> 00:39:01,680 i believe we're going to go uh take a 1099 00:39:05,109 --> 00:39:03,599 question on the phone from irene from 1100 00:39:08,550 --> 00:39:05,119 discover 1101 00:39:12,710 --> 00:39:10,950 hi thanks very much um i just had a 1102 00:39:14,710 --> 00:39:12,720 question for lindsay i was struck by 1103 00:39:17,510 --> 00:39:14,720 your comment about the 1104 00:39:19,589 --> 00:39:17,520 possible changes in the heliosphere and 1105 00:39:22,069 --> 00:39:19,599 i was just wondering if you or some of 1106 00:39:23,670 --> 00:39:22,079 your colleagues there might elaborate on 1107 00:39:25,910 --> 00:39:23,680 what sort of 1108 00:39:28,550 --> 00:39:25,920 what would have to happen to the sun to 1109 00:39:30,710 --> 00:39:28,560 have the heliosphere smaller within the 1110 00:39:32,950 --> 00:39:30,720 orbit of um or even 1111 00:39:36,230 --> 00:39:32,960 shorter shorter 1112 00:39:38,310 --> 00:39:36,240 shorter ex length than the earth's orbit 1113 00:39:40,230 --> 00:39:38,320 thanks 1114 00:39:41,510 --> 00:39:40,240 okay well i'll start 1115 00:39:43,430 --> 00:39:41,520 what would really have to happen as 1116 00:39:45,990 --> 00:39:43,440 rosine was mentioning is that we would 1117 00:39:49,030 --> 00:39:46,000 have to uh clear out of our our current 1118 00:39:50,150 --> 00:39:49,040 environment and pass into an area of gas 1119 00:39:52,470 --> 00:39:50,160 and dust 1120 00:39:54,950 --> 00:39:52,480 that is much much denser than the part 1121 00:39:57,990 --> 00:39:54,960 we're currently in and that would cause 1122 00:39:59,829 --> 00:39:58,000 the heliosphere to shrink in um and 1123 00:40:01,990 --> 00:39:59,839 after that i don't know dave if you have 1124 00:40:03,910 --> 00:40:02,000 yes i'd like to comment too i mean the 1125 00:40:06,630 --> 00:40:03,920 size and shape of this heliosphere is 1126 00:40:08,790 --> 00:40:06,640 driven by two things it's inflated from 1127 00:40:11,349 --> 00:40:08,800 the inside by the solar wind 1128 00:40:13,349 --> 00:40:11,359 and it's squeezed from the outside by 1129 00:40:15,030 --> 00:40:13,359 the magnetic field and by and by the 1130 00:40:17,030 --> 00:40:15,040 motion through through the local 1131 00:40:18,870 --> 00:40:17,040 environment and so it's sort of a 1132 00:40:20,710 --> 00:40:18,880 balance between those two 1133 00:40:22,069 --> 00:40:20,720 and so while the sun could change and 1134 00:40:23,910 --> 00:40:22,079 put out much much less solar wind 1135 00:40:25,190 --> 00:40:23,920 theoretically possible the most likely 1136 00:40:27,109 --> 00:40:25,200 thing and i think it's happened probably 1137 00:40:29,030 --> 00:40:27,119 many times over the history of our solar 1138 00:40:30,550 --> 00:40:29,040 system as we've gone around the galaxy 1139 00:40:32,710 --> 00:40:30,560 up and down and passed through the dense 1140 00:40:33,910 --> 00:40:32,720 regions reasons with stronger fields and 1141 00:40:35,829 --> 00:40:33,920 that sort of thing is that this 1142 00:40:37,750 --> 00:40:35,839 heliosphere has shrunk and grown and 1143 00:40:39,030 --> 00:40:37,760 change shape and really change the 1144 00:40:41,190 --> 00:40:39,040 amount of shielding that we get from the 1145 00:40:42,870 --> 00:40:41,200 galactic cosmic rays uh out in the 1146 00:40:44,309 --> 00:40:42,880 galaxy 1147 00:40:46,309 --> 00:40:44,319 anybody else want to comment on that 1148 00:40:49,349 --> 00:40:46,319 well just sort of one interesting thing 1149 00:40:50,630 --> 00:40:49,359 when when the voyagers launched in 1977 1150 00:40:52,550 --> 00:40:50,640 they actually thought that the 1151 00:40:54,950 --> 00:40:52,560 heliosphere wasn't much bigger 1152 00:40:56,950 --> 00:40:54,960 than the orbit of jupiter was very much 1153 00:40:59,109 --> 00:40:56,960 smaller and and the joke in the 1154 00:41:01,270 --> 00:40:59,119 community was that the estimates of the 1155 00:41:02,790 --> 00:41:01,280 size were getting bigger and almost 1156 00:41:04,710 --> 00:41:02,800 exactly the rate the voyagers were 1157 00:41:06,069 --> 00:41:04,720 moving away from the sun because we kept 1158 00:41:09,670 --> 00:41:06,079 on not getting it but we were going to 1159 00:41:12,470 --> 00:41:09,680 get there real soon now so 1160 00:41:14,630 --> 00:41:12,480 it's only when the voyager 1 actually 1161 00:41:17,750 --> 00:41:14,640 crossed the termination track the first 1162 00:41:19,670 --> 00:41:17,760 boundary that in 2005 that we really 1163 00:41:23,270 --> 00:41:19,680 knew that 1164 00:41:27,109 --> 00:41:25,270 okay i think that's going to do it you 1165 00:41:29,190 --> 00:41:27,119 guys definitely did a great job 1166 00:41:31,750 --> 00:41:29,200 explaining it um 1167 00:41:34,230 --> 00:41:31,760 for further information as always go to 1168 00:41:36,390 --> 00:41:34,240 www.nasa.gov 1169 00:41:39,030 --> 00:41:36,400 my congratulations to the team 1170 00:41:40,470 --> 00:41:39,040 and of course as i said with all of the 1171 00:41:42,710 --> 00:41:40,480 science 1172 00:41:45,349 --> 00:41:42,720 mission divisions and it especially